It has also been announced that the Islamic State has appointed a new representative, or ’emir’, for Southeast Asia. He has been named as Abu Dhar and is believed to be at large near Lanao del Sur.

Lt-Col Bisana said troops recovered the bodies of eight fighters, although they believe the militants carried off another 15 casualties.

He added that one soldier was also wounded in the fighting near the town of Datu Saudi Ampatuan.

“Soldiers have been vigilantly guarding the entire central Mindanao in order to constrict the firefight in specific areas, and continue to pursue the remnants of the terror group,” regional military chief Major-General Arnel dela Vega said.

The BIFF is a splinter group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which signed a peace treaty with Manila in 2014 after a decades-long armed campaign that claimed more than 100,000 lives.